12 Minutes, 43 Seconds
by Authoress of Evil
Summary: That's how long Chief Wournos thought his son was dead. What was running through his mind while he thought Nathan was the Chameleon? Spoilers for "Here and Now." Rating for one tiny little swear at the end. Brief one-shot.


12 Minutes, 43 Seconds

* * *

That's how long Chief Wournos thought his son was dead. What was running through his mind while he thought Nathan was the Chameleon?

* * *

12 minutes, 43 seconds. That's how long I thought my son was dead.

* * *

"It's a scarf."

Three words. All it took was three words, and it felt like my entire world had fallen apart.

Sure, I wasn't the greatest father. I didn't try very hard to get to know Nathan, and I didn't do anything to show him that I loved him. Though it most certainly didn't mean I didn't. He was my son. Of course I cared.

I didn't want to believe it, but then the image of my partner coming at me with a knife flashed through my head and I realized that maybe, just maybe, it could be true.

Almost immediately, Nathan – no, not Nathan… _It_ glared at Duke and flung itself at him. I wasn't 100% sure why.

So, I slammed my gun into that bastard's head, at the same time growling to have him tied up.

Ever since he was young, we hadn't gotten along. I knew that I didn't give him enough credit sometimes, but the kid had potential.

Potential that had been ripped away from him several hours ago.

I couldn't stop myself from picturing what it could have done with Nathan's real body. Had it found a moment to chuck him in the ocean? Had it stuffed him in a box somewhere? Was he squeezed under a bed? Or was he just lying somewhere, staring glassy-eyed at the ceiling?

I stopped that line of thought quickly, before it could get the better of me.

I glared furiously at the unconscious _thing_. It was a murderer. It had killed him. It had killed my son.

I wanted to kill it. Right then and there, I wanted to lift up my gun and shoot it through its skull. I wanted to tie it up in the middle of the woods and starve it, torturing it slowly until it bled out.

But it was wearing my son's skin. I couldn't. I just- I couldn't.

I vaguely wondered if Nathan's death had been painful. I hoped it hadn't. Nathan didn't deserve pain. He didn't deserve death either.

Then I remembered that he couldn't feel pain. That he couldn't feel anything. That just made things so much worse.

Suddenly, the monster woke up, and he started to mutter something about not being the chameleon. I couldn't help but wonder why it'd still deny it, even though it'd been found out.

Maybe so we'd stop looking for his body.

Then he explained about Jess.

I was so suspicious still. Feeling the pain of losing him, yet having him be right here, so… _him_. I didn't know anymore. I didn't know if I should apologize, or shoot him down for lying and killing my son.

Then he figured it out. It had been Parker all along. I was willing to have him killed, when it had been his partner the whole time, and he had shot her to prove it.

So, yeah, in the end, I did give him a half-hearted compliment. But maybe it wasn't he who needed to grow up.

Because the moment that I had knocked him out, the moment that I had betrayed him, the last of the bridges had faded away.

Three words. All it took was three words, and I became the biggest fuck up of a father imaginable.

* * *

In those 12 minutes, 43 seconds that I thought my son had died, I had killed our relationship.

* * *

A/N: I think that Haven is one of the best shows out there right now, and I owe most of my sanity to it.

Is that a compliment or a diss? :P

Anywho, I really like exploring these moments in things, so I hope ya'll liked it!

The reason I put "12 minutes and 43 seconds" as the time was because I think it was a lot more than 2 seconds like it was in the show. I mean, the dude knocks him out, then it goes onto commercial break. That's probably about 10 minutes in "Haven" time, cuz things are quite a bit different. Nathan is tied up, and everyone is chatting.

I also think that Chief Wournos should have had a more serious reaction to Nathan's "death". I mean, if they thought Nathan was the chameleon, they'd think he was dead. Especially his _father_. Hello? Unfeeling much? And we say _NATHAN _can't feel anything, OMG!

So, yeah, this is just my little way of making the Chief into a human being. Here's hoping I did him some justice. Or should I say, I _gave _him some justice. Seriously, that character is a D-I-C-K.

Anyway, reviews would be GREATLY appreciated! Toodles!


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